Matt Mattus

I have a little hobby garden for the butterflies in my area, so this book was a natural fit for me. I'm truly curious on how to take my hobby a little more seriously than just me guessing at what to plant and hoping for the best!

To start off, the very first page of my copy was stunning - beautiful flowers with beautiful colours. What more can a flower loving girl ask for?! Throughout the book there are many pictures of plants and flowers that liven up the pages. It's a definite plus of this book!

"We might all know how to grow a dahlia." Boy do I wish! Mine get eaten up every year by some pesky squirrels, even when I used chicken wire! So clearly, this book was made for me. Some handy, dandy flower tips for my inner amateur gardener!

I will say I learned a lot just within the seed section. I grow a lot of random flowers for the fun of it, kind of just to see what I get. The tips on what sort of plants are better bought versus grown was truly intriguing. I never thought much about it or thought to ask (mostly because my local greenhouses always tend to contradict everything say they).

When Matt gets to the actual plants, I was shocked and surprised and at the same time not surprised at all. My crocus always grew well, so hearing that they do indeed grow well and it's not my gardening prowess was exciting and disappointing all at the same time! Learning what plants grow together in clumps, what bulbs I should order when, and when to plant them was well needed information. All of this information is presented like the everyday man - you don't need to be an expert to pick up this book. I almost wish I had this book sooner, but I'm glad our Spring season is coming up so I can make some use of these helpful tips!

I was also overjoyed to find information on how to prune lilacs as that has been something I have been personally looking for the past few years. I had conflicting reports on whether to prune them or not, so it was nice to see a fellow gardener agreed that I should prune them. Another fun thing I learned was why my lavender did not do well: it likes sandy environments and needs great water drainage (both of which were not present). Overall, I learned a LOT and now have many new flower varieties I will be trying in my own garden.

I can't quite find any negatives about this book other than sometimes I wanted more information. This is a beginner's guide, so don't expect every piece of scientific information possible. For beginners like me, this is a great way to get started and learn.

Overall, this book is an excellent guide. I learned a lot and plan to use it. I highly recommend it to other hobby flower gardeners!

Five out of five stars!

Thank you NetGalley and Quarto Publishing Group - Cool Springs Press for the opportunity to pick up this wonderful little guide! My butterflies and bees thank you!… (more)

Mastering the Art of Vegetable Gardening by Matt Mattus


December 2018
Nonfiction, gardening
Rating: 5/5

I received a digital copy of this book from NetGalley and the publisher in exchange for an unbiased review.

Beautiful colorful illustrations of seeds to seedlings to plants. The book covers rare varieties of vegetables with helpful charts and descriptions. A gardener can never have too many books or suggestions on growing the best plants. It’s winter and the vibrant pictures make me eager to start browsing the seed catalogs. This is a wonderful addition to any gardeners library.… (more)

I’ve been planning to plant a vegetable garden so I decided to give this book a try. I am a beginning gardener and found some helpful tips for successfully getting my garden going. I would say this is an intermediate level book, so it lacks some of the absolute basics you may be looking for. But for someone with even a little bit of experience, this book is a helpful tool.

The tone is confident without being condescending or bossy. Just valuable gardening advice that can help you grow a more substantial garden… (more)